Winter Dew Tour Killington Superpipe Video & Results

January 22, 2011

Video/Editing: Stephen Schultz

Kelly Clark goes big. Out 2-3 feet over the field, the native Vermonter once again set it down in front of a home crowd, taking the Killington Dew Tour title in women’s Superpipe. The day started off in classic New England form, with negative temps and crisp wind greeting the morning practice sessions. But with facemasks and mitten all around, the brisk dawn wouldn’t stop the riders from showing up ready to go. Six women took their runs at the Finals, led by pre-qualified Queralt Castellet, the Dew Tour Champ from the previous Breckenridge, Colorado stop. The ladies were doing fine in the 18-foot tall pipe, getting their first runs dialed, when Kelly took to the start gate. The iPod pressed play, her name was called, and 40 seconds later, it would essentially be all over. With massive airs and clean, grabbed spins, Kelly set the number to beat. Her second run wasn’t even needed, but still ended up judged to be a 95.75—the highest score in women’s Dew Tour Pipe history. Gretchen Bleiler’s lofty Crippler found her in second position, with Queralt touching down in third.

Kelly would (and did) go. PHOTO: Aaron Blatt

While the women’s Finals were going on, the entire men’s field was up in the Start Tent, watching both on the pipe and the live TV in the Athlete Lounge. As each dropped, they called tricks. When the ladies stomped, they cheered. Traveling throughout the year with one another, the open camaraderie seemed to refresh the riders. In short, the family vibe was alive and well in the Green Mountains.

Pre-Qualified Greg Bretz, Matt Ladley, and Louie Vito joined with the top 9 from yesterday’s Prelims for the two-run Saturday Finals. Bundled up and running back and forth from the heat fans, the dirty dozen began to launch. The fans weren’t greeted with the normal double-cork fiesta we’ve become almost accustomed to seeing, but rather a show based on polished spins and getting ‘er done in the cold Vermont sun. When the cold smoke finally cleared, none other than crowd favorite Louie Vito claimed his second Dew Tour title of the season. The only rider to throw the double (four times strong, to be exact), LV linked up flips, spins, and style to land on top-dude’s a boss; all there is to say. JJ Thomas threw the cleanest tricks of the day, landing without a dusting of snow flying from the edges, and taking home second—the first second place finish of his life, apparently. And Mason Aguirre, whose mom told him to stop complaining about the cold and be a true Minnesota boy, sent ‘er into third.

Sunday brings on the park stars, with Torstein Horgmo, Chas Guldemond, Sebastien Toutant, Mark McMorris, and Sage Kotsenburg—not to mention Jamie Anderson, Spencer O’Brien, and the rest of a stacked men’s and women’s field—getting set for Slopestyle Finals. Stay up on this year’s Dew Tour at Killington, VT, including VIDEOS, PHOTOS, and FULL RESULTS from Sunday’s Slopestyle finals, on Facebook (facebook.com/TWSnow), Twitter (@TWSnow), and right here, at TWSnow.com.